4 ms·

It is strange that there is no large Asian aircraft manufacturer. I wonder why.

xbmcuser 10y ago
Cost both european and Us aircraft industries have been built on trillions of dollars of subsidies o(in today's $) over decades which no country let alone a company can now match.
- touristtam 10y ago
  And on the other hand China (and other big countries) haven't been able to invest at the same time (for a reason or another).
  - xbmcuser 10y ago
    China has risen as global economy in the last 20 years or so only. They did not have the resources earlier. Where as Boeing and now what is Airbus started from the earliest time of passenger aircraft in early 1930s-40s. To build everything needed to build passenger planes from the ground up would take resources that no one can match today. And even if they do because of regulatory blockades of USA and Europe no Airline would be willing to buy such an aircraft so civilian aircraft are hard to build even harder to sell. Where as military aircraft China will probably match US in the next decade or so.
ubernostrum 10y ago
Engines are the hard part, and most of the tech behind building them (particularly in how to make key components like turbine blades) is a closely-guarded trade secret of the companies that know how to do it. That's why this plane uses engines procured from CFM (France), and Mitsubishi's in-development regional jet will have engines from Pratt & Whitney (US). There have also been patent issues around some of the other useful bits (such as blended winglets). Aviation Industry Corporation of China announced a deal with Antonov to revive An-225 production and get the tooling and everything for building them in China, and a lot of speculation there is that the deal is much more about getting the engine tech than the plane itself; even though it's behind current engine technology, just jumping to where engine technology was in the 1980s would be a big boost for China's aviation industry.

Cost both european and Us aircraft industries have been built on trillions of dollars of subsidies o(in today's $) over decades which no country let alone a company can now match.

touristtam 10y ago
And on the other hand China (and other big countries) haven't been able to invest at the same time (for a reason or another).
- xbmcuser 10y ago
  China has risen as global economy in the last 20 years or so only. They did not have the resources earlier. Where as Boeing and now what is Airbus started from the earliest time of passenger aircraft in early 1930s-40s. To build everything needed to build passenger planes from the ground up would take resources that no one can match today. And even if they do because of regulatory blockades of USA and Europe no Airline would be willing to buy such an aircraft so civilian aircraft are hard to build even harder to sell. Where as military aircraft China will probably match US in the next decade or so.

ubernostrum 10y ago

Engines are the hard part, and most of the tech behind building them (particularly in how to make key components like turbine blades) is a closely-guarded trade secret of the companies that know how to do it. That's why this plane uses engines procured from CFM (France), and Mitsubishi's in-development regional jet will have engines from Pratt & Whitney (US). There have also been patent issues around some of the other useful bits (such as blended winglets). Aviation Industry Corporation of China announced a deal with Antonov to revive An-225 production and get the tooling and everything for building them in China, and a lot of speculation there is that the deal is much more about getting the engine tech than the plane itself; even though it's behind current engine technology, just jumping to where engine technology was in the 1980s would be a big boost for China's aviation industry.